


you look wonderful tonight

by bestthreemonths



Category: Her Name in the Sky - Kelly Quindlen
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-09-25 05:03:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9803687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bestthreemonths/pseuds/bestthreemonths
Summary: Baker needs a date to semi-formal. Hannah is very much up to the task.





	

**Author's Note:**

> just a little belated birthday present for courtney and belated valentine's day present for the rest of you!

The only thing stopping Baker from chewing her nails till they're red and raw is the fact that she's literally sitting in the chair at the salon getting a manicure.

 

“I can feel you stressing,” Hannah says from the chair behind her as she gets her own nails done.

 

“I’m not,” Baker insists, but Hannah knows better.

 

“If you're second guessing this, we can always stay home and watch Netflix and cuddle,” Hannah sing-songs.

 

Baker hates to admit how relieved she is to hear that, but she knows they can't. “Don't be silly,” she says. “I'm excited for tonight.”

 

“Me too,” Hannah says softly, and Baker smiles, hearing the relief in her voice. As much as they'd both be happy to spend the weekend wrapped up in Baker’s blankets and breathing each other in, Hannah didn't come all this way to cuddle. She came to be Baker’s date to semi-formal.

 

Baker struggled with the idea of going at all for a few days after it was announced, but two days of hiding something from Hannah was two days too long. Hannah had listened patiently as Baker rambled in circles about her day at school and her split ends. When she had finally run out of stuff to talk about, the silence hung in the air until Hannah realized Baker was done.

 

“Is there something bothering you?” she’d asked softly. Hannah always knows better.

 

When Baker finished unloading, she’d held her breath for Hannah’s reaction, sure she’d be mad, or worse, hurt.

 

“So what are you gonna wear?” Hannah had asked. 

 

“I… I don't know if I'm going,” Baker had replied.

 

“Why not? It sounds like fun. I'm sure you could get a group of your single friends to go and get a hotel room together or something. Like a slumber party.”

 

“But I'm not single.”

 

“No, but you shouldn't miss out on a party just because you aren't ready for me to meet your friends like that.” Baker could almost hear the blasé shrug in Hannah’s voice.

 

“Do you not want to go?”

 

“Of course I’d like to go,” Hannah had laughed. “But you'd have to ask me, and it doesn't sound like you're doing that right now.” Baker was quiet. “Bake. It's okay.”

 

“No it's not!” Baker had exclaimed. “I did this to you for long enough. Why are you still putting up with it?”

 

“I'm not putting up with anything,” Hannah said. “I'm loving you. That's all.”

 

“If you love me then you'll be my date to the stupid semi-formal,” Baker huffed.

 

“Fine then.”

 

“Fine!” Baker exclaimed. The other end of the phone was silent for a few moments before Hannah started to laugh. “What?”

 

“You're cute.”

 

“Shut up,” Baker grumbled, turning in her bed so she was lying on her side, her phone sandwiched between her face and the pillow.

 

“I'd be honored to be your date, Baker Hadley. But I’d also be honored to be the one who sends you inappropriate texts throughout the night because of how hot you're going to look and how bad I'll be wishing I could—”

 

“Stop!” Baker squealed, her face burning as her eyes dart to the door of her dorm room as if her roommate would somehow hear Hannah if she burst in at that very moment. “You won't have to wish for… anything like that. You can have the real thing.”

 

“If you insist,” Hannah teased.

 

“But you can still send me naughty texts from across the room.”

 

~

 

Hannah was planning to do just that, but when she sees Baker at the top of the grand staircase in the sorority house, her plan changes. She won't let Baker out of her arms for one second tonight. Her shiny brown hair is twisted and braided into what looks like an effortless low updo that Hannah knows will taste like hairspray when it inevitably gets in her mouth. She also knows she’ll step on at least three bobby pins tonight in their hotel room, but the smooth column of Baker’s neck is exposed for all to see (and only Hannah to kiss), and Hannah can hear her own heart beating faster and faster.

 

Baker had stressed that this was a  _ semiformal _ , meaning most girls would be in short dresses. Hannah had assumed she was just giving her helpful tips on picking out a dress, but she realizes now she should have taken it as a warning because she's not prepared for what Baker’s legs, long and smooth and God, so long, do to her even after all this time.

 

Her long-sleeved dress could barely be considered mid-thigh length, and the way the gold threads reflect the light makes Baker look like an angel, sparkling with even the slightest movement. It hugs every curve like Hannah longs to as if it hasn't been mere hours since the last time she touched the brunette.

 

“I'm going to have a massive wedgie all night,” Baker grumbles as she practically skips down the stairs, matching gold shoes in hand, completely unaware of Hannah’s gaze. “You look so beautiful, Hannah-bear!”

 

Hannah almost laughs, it sounds so absurd for those words to come out of this goddess’ mouth. “You are a vision,” Hannah manages to breathe out.

 

When she leans in for a quick peck on the lips, Hannah sees the finer details of Baker’s makeup, which brings out her natural glow. “I'm happy you're here,” Baker whispers when she pulls away.

 

“I'm happy to be here,” Hannah replies, her hand lingering on the small of Baker’s back, just above where the fabric starts, dangerously low on her spine. “Are you trying to kill me?”

 

“Depends,” Baker teases, grinning with the tip of her tongue sticking out between her teeth. “Is it working?”

 

~

 

If Baker’s dress doesn't do the job of ending Hannah’s life, the shots they take on the party bus just might.

 

“Maybe we should have eaten before,” Hannah mumbles into Baker’s ear, scrunching her face up at the taste of hairspray when a wisp of her hair ends up in Hannah’s mouth. Baker had moved into Hannah’s lap after the first round of shots and had only snuggled closer ever since. “Are you even going to be able to stay away for the dancing?”

 

“Power nap,” Baker murmurs, her lanky arms hanging around Hannah’s shoulders.

 

“I hope it was real powerful because we’re here,” Hannah laughs, pinching Baker’s side to whines and protests.

 

Baker seems to have a second wind after they put their things in their room upstairs, shoveling free bread down her throat in the ballroom downstairs as soon as the waiter sets it in front of them. “I haven't eaten all day!” she exclaims.

 

“We had brunch and lunch two hours later and then milkshakes like an hour after that,” Hannah reminds her.

 

Baker rolls her eyes in response, taking another bite of bread as if to prove a point. It seems to do the trick, though, because Baker sobers up quickly once she has some food in her system, and she seems to notice it too, taking a sip of water in between every sip of wine. 

 

“I want to remember tonight,” Baker tells Hannah after turning down a refill. “How wonderful you look in red,” she says, squeezing Hannah’s hand before bringing it to her lips and kissing it. Her eyes dart around the room, but everyone at the table is wrapped up in a separate conversation. “How good you make me feel.”

 

“Dance with me,” Hannah says.

 

Baker’s face turns pink, and her entire demeanor changes. “Not right now.” Only a few couples are even on the dance floor, and despite her beacon of a dress, Hannah knows Baker hates drawing too much attention to herself.

 

When everyone finishes their dessert, though, the music picks up in pace and the girls take to the floor, kicking off their shoes and dancing like fools. Hannah loves watching Baker when she's like this, free and uninhibited. She never doubted Baker’s ability to make friends, but she prayed every night that Baker would make friends like this, who she can be totally herself around.

 

“What's on your mind?” Baker asks, bouncing toward Hannah with a huge grin on her face.

 

“Nothing,” Hannah replies, leaning forward for a kiss.

 

Baker pulls back, still smiling, and looks around them. “Wanna get out of here and go upstairs?”

 

Hannah frowns. “Already?”

 

“I want you,” Baker murmurs.

 

“Wait, dance first,” Hannah says. The dance floor has cleared off a little, and there are only a handful of couples swaying now that the music has hit a slow point. 

 

“Nobody slow dances,” Baker groans. “Come on, take me upstairs.”

 

“We slow dance.”

 

Baker looks over her shoulder at the rest of the couples on the dance floor. “I don't know how.”

 

“I'll lead,” Hannah promises.

 

Baker giggles despite herself when Hannah pulls her onto the dance floor and dips into a goofy curtsy. “You’re a dork.”

 

“That just means you're crazy enough to be in love with a dork,” Hannah retorts, wrapping her arms around Baker’s neck loosely.

 

Baker places her hands on Hannah’s waist, then frowns. “I thought you were going to lead.”

 

Hannah looks pointedly at their feet, which are shuffling while their bodies sway together. “You were a debutante, you know what you're doing.”

 

“Excuse me, I'm a debutante dropout,” Baker corrects, quirking an eyebrow. “And they actually called it a coming out ceremony. So I guess it makes sense now why I just wasn't ready.”

 

Hannah rolls her eyes playfully. “How long have you been sitting on that joke? It was terrible, by the way.”

 

“That's why I have you,” Baker says softly, ignoring Hannah’s insult. “To drag me headfirst, even if I'm kicking and screaming.”

 

“Ouch, is dancing with me that terrible?”

 

“It's a metaphor, loser.”

 

“Enough with the name calling, jerk,” Hannah laughs.

 

“Brat.”

 

“Diva.”

 

Baker pauses like she's trying to come up with another one. “You're pretty.”

 

“You're prettier.”

 

“You're beautiful,” Baker tries again.

 

“You're beautiful-er.”

 

“You're beautiful-est.”

 

“You're insufferable,” Hannah groans.

 

“You like it.”

 

“No, I love it.” Hannah lifts herself onto her toes and kisses Baker softly.

 

Baker’s hands leave Hannah’s waist and fly to her hair, holding her in place while she deepens the kiss. The song is over, and she can feel everyone around them rushing back to the dance floor for the Cupid Shuffle, but that doesn't stop her from clinging to the moment with Hannah.

 

Hannah refuses to be the first to break the kiss, well aware that everything is on Baker’s terms right now. If she wants to kiss her in front of all these people, far be it from Hannah to stop her.

 

When Baker finally pulls away, she bites her own lip and rubs her thumb over Hannah’s cheek. “Upstairs.”

 

This time, there's no argument from Hannah, who collects their shoes and room keys from the table where they were sitting while Baker tells her friends Hannah isn't feeling well and she's going to stay with her. When Hannah catches their eyes, she knows they don't buy it for a second.

 

Baker is tugging on Hannah’s zipper before Hannah even reaches the light switch in their room, a sure sign that “slow” is not part of Baker’s plan for the rest of the night.

 

Baker’s skin tastes like salt and sugar and somehow, still, tequila, and Hannah feels drunk on the sensation of her girlfriend’s fingertips barely brushing their way up her arm.

 

When Baker finally frees Hannah’s zipper, she lets her dress fall to the floor so she's clad only in the black underwear set she bought for this occasion. Hannah’s hairs stand on end, and she feels her nipples harden instantly. She can't tell if it's more from arousal or the blast of the air conditioning, but she doesn't care to explore that at the moment as her hands fumble across Baker’s bare back to find the the zipper of her own dress.

 

“Just take it off,” Baker mumbles, biting into Hannah’s shoulder. “There's no—no zipper.”

 

Hannah realizes the fabric is stretchier than she thought when she pulls the dress off Baker’s body at the shoulders, but it must be to fit her so snugly without a zipper. She's undressed Baker enough times that, while it's still exciting every time, she knows what to expect, how Baker will look when Hannah steps back to take it all in, but her jaw almost drops to the floor when she sees Baker in front of her, without a thread of clothing on.

 

“I—you—” Hannah stammers.

 

“Yes?” Baker asks with a smirk. Hannah can tell she's actively resisting the urge to fold her arms across her chest and cover up in some way, but she pulls it off.

 

“Your underwear,” is all Hannah can think to say, as dumb as it sounds.

 

“I took it off when we came up here to put our things down,” Baker shrugs. “I told you, I had a wedgie.”

 

“I don't understand how you can still be so hot when you're saying that word.”

 

“Does it turn you on?” Baker teases, moving toward Hannah to finger her bra strap.

 

“You turn me on,” Hannah corrects before capturing Baker’s lips with her own. Before she knows it, Baker’s fingers have unclasped her bra. “You're good at that.”

 

“Yeah, well you're lucky I'm a girl, I have lots of practice.”

  
“I am lucky you're a girl,” Hannah says with a smirk, lifting Baker off the floor by the hips just enough so she can make it seem like she's tossing her on the bed. “Now show me what else you've practiced.”


End file.
